🕒 3.5 min read 

On Wednesday July 7, the CN Tower announced via their site and on social that guests can visit CN Tower again beginning July 23, and 360, the Canadian restaurant located atop the country’s iconic tower that gives diners a panoramic view of the city as it revolves, is reopening for dining starting July 29, with bookings currently available.

Fine dining establishment Don Alfonso 1890, currently a pop-up inside Casa Loma’s Conservatory, also declared online on Wednesday reservations are being accepted for indoor dining as early as July 21. 

While both restaurant’s announcements include the reopening dates are dependent upon the Province reaching Step 3 at that time, operations are already underway.

Without official word that the province is in fact entering Step 3 on July 21 as per the requirements outlined in the Roadmap to Reopen Ontario plan after the required time spent in Step 2 - at least 21 days - it seems a rather bold move, considering how many times reopening dates have been moved back during the pandemic, and that indoor dining has been shuttered to date over 400 days - the longest in the world. I reached out to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) to see if they knew something the public didn’t. Ryan Mallough, Senior Director of Provincial Affairs, Ontario said via phone interview on Wednesday, “We don’t expect the government to delay the reopening beyond July 20 or July 21.”

Step 3 includes the all-important return of indoor dining - with capacity and other restrictions in place – yet despite the province showing 50 per of adults are fully vaccinated to date (49.26% as of 10:30am), double the threshold it set for reopening step 3, the government “shows no signs of moving before July 21, has given no detail on step 3 rules & has no plans for a full reopening,” Dan Kelly, President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, tweeted July 7.

Without capacity limits, mask rules, and other crucial information about the operation and flow of their spaces, owners are at a standstill, unable to fully ready their spaces to welcome back guests. With just two weeks until the possible reopening date, hospitality workers will likely have to hustle to get everything into place, as most had to transform their dining rooms, bars, and seating areas into bottle shops, bodegas, and work spaces for takeout and delivery operations during the pandemic - and now will be required to operate all facets simultaneously.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said Wednesday, "We will release this information well in advance."

The return of buffets

In addition to indoor dining, Step 3 permits the continuation of outdoor dining, karaoke with restrictions, and buffets. How buffets will operate during the pandemic is also still unclear.

Stay tuned for updates.

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